It sounds to me like this should be renamed 'Why Juice Cleanses Are Bad' instead.  

I appreciate your sharing of experiences and insight!  I am all for healthy eating & exercise, but think I will leave the juice cleansing out of my health regimen!

Having done a 75 day juice fast with the Fasting Center International, I have my own thoughts and opinions on the subject.  To dismiss it as bad or unhealthy is unfair and misleading.  I was treated for breast cancer in 2007-2008.  While the treatment was successful, it left me with big problems.  I had chemo-induced neuropathy in my feet such that I could not be on my feet longer than 30 minutes at a time.  Every time I complained about it to my oncologist all he would say is that there was nothing he could do for me.  I felt ill all the time and could still feel the chemo in my body even 18 months after treatment ended.

I looked and looked for a way to detox from the chemo and eventually found juice fasting.  When a person does a true fast, the digestive track is "put to sleep" and the body uses the energy it would have spent digesting food and puts it towards "cleaning house."  Although fresh juice is good for the body, it is not the juice that heals the body.  The body heals itself--if it is given the right tools. At two weeks into my fast, my feet were completely healed and so was my high blood pressure.  I had been on blood pressure medication for the nine years previous to my fast.  I have not been on it since.  The neuropathy in my feet is gone.  To me, it was a miracle!

Fasting is not easy.  Fasting is not right for every person.  Every person's body is different.  My experience will not be someone else's.  But I have come to find out for myself that the daily aches and pains I had had for years were a build-up of toxins. About four weeks into my fast those were completely gone.  I learned that I do not have to hurt every day of my life.  I have gone on to use fasting to heal more minor conditions that have developed since my original fast.  If you want to know more about true juice fasting, I suggest going to www.fasting. com for more information.  My complete experience is documented there.  Not everyone is allowed to do a long fast and certainly no one should ever undertake a lengthy fast unsupervised.

Precautions like taking blood pressure or checking blood sugar especially if feeling really drained would be in order.  I've heard plenty of stories of water/juice fasts being beneficial.  I'm not sure juice fasts work better or not.

There are the blood sugar issues of spiking blood sugar drinking a ton of concentrated sugar.  If the amount of juice is low and the calories are low maybe its not too damaging short term.  Its hard to say.

I think I prefer the idea of a water fast with electrolytes.  So water with a little bit of unrefined Real Salt, Celtic Sea Salt, or Himalayan Salt.  Or something else to make sure you get the electrolytes in.

Any fast should be taken with extreme caution though and different levels of caution depending on your current health.

I did a five day fast and it lowered my fasting blood sugar which remained somewhat lowered even after I stopped the fast.  Its back up but not to the same point.  I did start eating too much fruit which is probably why my fasting blood glucose went up a bit more than I wanted.

I understand being careful, but I find this article to be really uneducated and judgemental.  If you only fast for a few days, of course you are goind to experience discomfort because your body is beginning to dexotify itself.  It's like taking a laxative, while it's working through your system you're going to experience some nausea because it's disrupting the toxins in your body to expel them.  I think for anyone (including the writer) who needs more information or education on juicing or fasting should do some research.  I found the movie "fat, sick and nearly dead" to be life changing.  This website is helpful because we can motivate and encourage each other, not **** about why dieting is hard.  If we all did that, none of us would have any progress towards a healthier tomorrow.

Ahh forgot that movies name...kept trying to remember it ...was trying to tell my uncle about it when we were talking about different movies...and couldn't think of it.

Thanks going to bookmark it or something so I don't forget again.  It was highly skewed toward the Vegan/Vegetarian slant, but think it was pretty good overall as far as interest.

I don't think Vegan/Vegetarian or Juice fasts in general are healthy long term but for a start to a healthier diet its fine.

This article is right about one thing - fasting is not easy.  But that doesn't mean it's bad for you.  Running is not easy...guess what, not bad for you etiher - or for most people, anyways.  Neither is hiking, bicycling, or integral calculus for that matter.

Here's my take on fasting - it's not for weight loss.  Period.  Don't go on a 2-week juce fast and think that weight won't come back on.  I know people who have gotten into a vicious cycle of fasting and weight-gain, and that, my friends is not healthy.  That is a starvation diet disguised as a health-fast. 

I do two juice fasts a year, to detox, and I hardly could recognize myself in your description of what one experiences during a detox. Yes, you may have a headache during the second or third day, when the toxins start being eliminated. You may also feel more easily cold while fasting. But after the second day, your mind is clearer than it has ever been, and you feel a lot more energetic than usual. Tiredness only starts around the 5th day, the last in a regular fast (it is not recommended to have a fast last more than 5 days - plus one preparation day before and a day of recovery after - without being medically monitored). But you should never drink "tons" of juice during a fast, but 3 oz at a time, sipped slowly, with herbal teas or water in between takings, and the juices may be diluted too. I have never experienced any "shakes" "jitters" or any of the unpleasant symptoms you describe, This article is either badly researched or heavily biased to prevent people from trying juice fasts!

One of the most positive aspects of a juice fast is to help us realize we do not need half as much food as is currently advertized. It also breaks the cycle of senseless munching most of us engage in without even thinking...

I have never tried a juice cleanse, but I did a cleanse where all I ate was raw or steamed vegetables and fruit.  The main foods avoided were meat, wheat, dairy, caffeine, and alcohol.  Basically anything processed.  I was able to remain this diet for a week and slowly added back foods to my diet.  It helped me to regain focus on the health foods to get through a diet plateau.

I did juice fasting last May and I've never felt better since! The secret is in the preparation of the mind and the body before you do it. I diminished my alcohol and milk intake 2 weeks before starting and four days before I went on pure juice diet, I was on delicious and appetising complete vegetarian meals. Then the juice diet went on for 4 days (the clue to how long is simply listen to your body). To break from it, you have to start with one kind of fruit the first day which you have to eat 3 times a day and then gradually increase this to 2 kinds of fruits until the 4th day when you can introduce vegetables. The effect on my body and mind was brilliant. My hormonal imbalance ended which meant to heavy bleeding during my periods and good sleep at night. And what topped it all is that I was back to my ideal weight and people found me looking young & ravishing! Don't forget to do physical activity during the fasting so you won't feel weak. You'll see that your body would feel so energetic even with just juices. Also drink lots of water in between.

Correction on the typo error on my earlier comment: NO MORE heavy bleeding during my periods, consequently, anemia problem also resolved!

Original Post by: raiken3712

Precautions like taking blood pressure or checking blood sugar especially if feeling really drained would be in order.  I've heard plenty of stories of water/juice fasts being beneficial.  I'm not sure juice fasts work better or not.

There are the blood sugar issues of spiking blood sugar drinking a ton of concentrated sugar.  If the amount of juice is low and the calories are low maybe its not too damaging short term.  Its hard to say.

I think I prefer the idea of a water fast with electrolytes.  So water with a little bit of unrefined Real Salt, Celtic Sea Salt, or Himalayan Salt.  Or something else to make sure you get the electrolytes in.

Any fast should be taken with extreme caution though and different levels of caution depending on your current health.

I did a five day fast and it lowered my fasting blood sugar which remained somewhat lowered even after I stopped the fast.  Its back up but not to the same point.  I did start eating too much fruit which is probably why my fasting blood glucose went up a bit more than I wanted.

Juice fasting is less drastic than water fasting, and it is less dammaging to your body. Even if you drink water with electrolotes, you body may end up lacking vitamins and other nutrients. On the other hand, depending on the ingredients used, juices can provide you with anything necessary, from electrolites to vitamins, proteins and fibers.

If you are concerned about the level of sugars contained by a juice, you can choose to replace fruits with vegetables such as carrots, spinach, cucumbers and that way you will obtain a nutricious drink that has a balanced content of sugar.

Original Post by: litu_maria

Original Post by: raiken3712

Precautions like taking blood pressure or checking blood sugar especially if feeling really drained would be in order.  I've heard plenty of stories of water/juice fasts being beneficial.  I'm not sure juice fasts work better or not.

There are the blood sugar issues of spiking blood sugar drinking a ton of concentrated sugar.  If the amount of juice is low and the calories are low maybe its not too damaging short term.  Its hard to say.

I think I prefer the idea of a water fast with electrolytes.  So water with a little bit of unrefined Real Salt, Celtic Sea Salt, or Himalayan Salt.  Or something else to make sure you get the electrolytes in.

Any fast should be taken with extreme caution though and different levels of caution depending on your current health.

I did a five day fast and it lowered my fasting blood sugar which remained somewhat lowered even after I stopped the fast.  Its back up but not to the same point.  I did start eating too much fruit which is probably why my fasting blood glucose went up a bit more than I wanted.

Juice fasting is less drastic than water fasting, and it is less dammaging to your body. Even if you drink water with electrolotes, you body may end up lacking vitamins and other nutrients. On the other hand, depending on the ingredients used, juices can provide you with anything necessary, from electrolites to vitamins, proteins and fibers.

If you are concerned about the level of sugars contained by a juice, you can choose to replace fruits with vegetables such as carrots, spinach, cucumbers and that way you will obtain a nutricious drink that has a balanced content of sugar.

 

You're right about that.  Depending on what your body has an extended water fast could be damaging.  A water fast doesn't necessarily have to be damaging but how you would know if you have enough without blood testing....I guess you don't.

I suppose at some point when you reach a point where you don't have enough of a certain nutrient their should be symptoms....but you might not notice.

From everything I've read the body becomes more efficient at using what it has during a fast....but more efficiency isn't 100% efficiency.  That being said I've never read anything on how long it takes for you to get to depleted levels.

"Depleted" meaning levels that start to damage your body....If you knew around how fast your body uses up your stores and you had a baseline because of blood tests you could figure out the best time period to fast.

That being said that makes the fast more complicated.  Juice fasts do have an advantage there.  So shorter water fasts are probably more appropriate without more information.  If a two week fast is enough to deplete any nutrients someone was probably deficient already. 

Is juice fasting safe when you are a type 2 diabetic?

I would say so.  I would avoid drinking large amounts of high sugar fruit juices all at once though.  It would probably be preferable to drink vegetable juices.

http://jackkruse.com/brain-gut-6-epi-paleo-rx/

I must prefer this though.  If you eat the things listed in that blog it should help your blood sugar issues.  Also research Metformin/Glycosolve and Cycloset.

Glycosolve is something I tried and after one and a half weeks my blood sugar is down from 100s to 75-80.  Two months ago I was in the diabetic range of 138.  After eating a Primal/Paleo diet similar to the brain gut six post and using Glycosolve I'm down to 75-80.

http://paleophysiciansnetwork.com/

This is a list of doctors that may be able to help guide you to health if you don't feel comfortable trying things out without being to a doctor.  Glycosolve is a natural product that works in a similar way to the RX drug Metformin.  Cycloset helps reset circadian rhythms.

http://jackkruse.com/brain-gut-11-is-technology-your-achille s-heel/

Article mentions cycloset.

http://jackkruse.com/jacks-blog/page/22/

I highly recommend reading posts 1-5, 13, 14, 16.  You'll find out what circadian rhythms are in those posts and why its so important.  I really like the whole blog but those posts I linked are a good start.

1-5, 13, 14, 16 and than the brain gut 11 post would be a good order to do it in.  Or if you love reading ...you could just start from the first page and read all of them....that'll take awhile though :)

http://www.leanerlivingstore.com/Glycosolve--500-mg-of-berbe rine-per-serving_p_9.html

Hi all,

my experience with freshly squeezed fruit drinks and vegetable juices are only positive. Over a period of 7 month I have lost more then 35 lbs of weight and had no cravings or in a bad mood. I only can recommend it to everybody. But I also need to say that I been bikeing and other cardio exercises at least 2 times a week, in addition working out with light weights with 20-30 reps / 3 sets each. I am feeling so much better.